Method

Put the wet (milk and egg) ingredients, except the butter in a jug, and whisk quickly with a fork to mix.

Warm a frying pan with a little melted butter. You will need to top up with a small amount of butter after each pancake.

Add the wet to the dry and put the melted butter on top. Whisk immediately to make a thickish batter.

(Flours and egg sizes vary. If it’s too runny you will get thin pancakes. But it needs to be liquid enough to spread out a bit in the pan. It can be made dryer by adding a couple of spoons of flour if needed, or a splash of milk if too thick. But the measures given work for most flours.)

You can start cooking immediately. Make a small test pancake. The first one is never right but lets you get the temperature of the pan right. It’s the cook’s treat.

You know when a pancake is ready to flip when you see bubbles appearing on the surface of the batter and the first ones are just beginning to burst. Flip it over. If it’s too dark on the cooked side your pan is too hot.

Make a small batch of pancakes and keep them warm in a warm oven at about 50C till you are ready to serve. They don’t really keep long so need to be eaten when the batch is ready. This won’t be difficult.

Variants

When you add a pancake to the pan to cook drop some fruit into the soft top – raspberry, blueberry etc. This will warm and cook nicely with the pancake. (If you have frozen it’s best to defrost before using. With blueberries, I find submerging them in a small bowl of water is usually enough to hurry up the defrosting. Drain them before doing to the pancake.)

These make great pancakes to serve with thin oven roasted streaky bacon, maple syrup and soft poached eggs.

Carrot cake is always a winner. And the cake stays moist for a few days if covered. The lemon icing really lifts it.

Sometimes this recipe is called a passion cake. Call it what you like – it’s still delicious.

Ingredients

275g plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp salt

175g soft light brown sugar

50g chopped walnuts

2 mashed ripe bananas

3 eggs

175g grated carrots

175ml vegetable oil or melted butter, vegetable oil is fine.

Icing

75g butter

75g soft cream cheese

175-200g icing sugar

½ tsp vanilla extract

grated zest and half the juice of a lemon

Method

Put the oven on at 170C fan.

Prepare a cake tin. I use one about 9 inches/22cm round and with a removable side/base which makes taking the cake out much easier.

Put all the dry ingredients in a big bowl, then add the wet, and mix together well with a wooden spoon until you have a batter.

Put the batter in the tin and place in the oven for about 1 hour. Test with a skewer, if it comes out clean the centre is cooked. If needed, give it another few minutes. Once cooked place on a rack to cool before removing the tin.

To make the icing beat all the ingredients together until creamed. If it’s too wet just add some more icing sugar. The volume of lemon juice can vary a bit.

Once the carrot cake is completely cooled cut it horizontally. Now ice the middle and the top. Re-assemble and try to resist eating it. Impossible.

Chilli con carne is a Tex Mex classic. Makes a big pot, flex the ingredients according to the quantity you’re making or your taste. We always make a huge batch and freeze portions we don’t use on the day.

Method

Put the chicken in a bowl to marinade with the soy sauce, five-spice and chilli sauce,

Cook the noodles. Usually, 5 minutes standing in some boiled water. Then drain and chill with cold water and drain thoroughly. Add a dash of sesame oil and mix to prevent them sticking together.

Drain the marinated chicken. Put the cornflour in a large food bag and then drop in the chicken pieces. Shake and manipulate the bag to coat all the chicken pieces. Then lift them out to a plate shaking off the loose flour.

Have all your other ingredient looked out and to hand as this is where you start cooking. Heat enough oil to fry the chicken, you may need to do this in a couple of batches. Cook all the chicken till it is cooked and has a bit of colour, and put it in a warm holding oven when cooked.

Pour out the oil and wipe the wok clean.

Now heat a splash more oil. And add the broccoli or bok choi, cooking this till mostly done.

Add the spring onion and the bean sprouts, cooking these quickly

Now add the cold noodles and the oyster and soy sauce

Cook these for a couple of minutes until the whole thing is steaming hot

Serve the chicken chow mein in warm bowls with the chicken scattered on top and a twist of pepper. Add an extra splash of soy or a hot chilli sauce if you like.

Variations

Obviously, you can alter and amend this in countless ways. The meat can be varied, it could even be prawns. Also, the vegetables can be flexed in type and quantity. Personally, I like green vegetables but you could add carrot shreds, or you could try some mushroom. Go for it.

French Onion Soup is a delicious soup. It does take a fair amount of elapsed time because the onions can take 90 minutes plus to cook and then it simmers for about an hour once all the ingredients are in. Good to do if you are in the kitchen for something else anyway as the onions need occasional stirring.

Another tip of the hat to Felicity Cloake.

Depending on the cider or wine used the flavour can be more or less acidic. You might find that some wines will give an acidic edge and you would reduce or omit the vinegar.

Ingredients

80g butter, plus a little extra for the toasts

4 onions, peeled and thinly sliced

1 tbsp plain flour

3 sprigs thyme, just the leaves

A bay leaf

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar (vary this depending on the acidity of the wine/cider)

400ml medium cider (or white wine)

600ml good-quality beef stock

Dash of calvados or other brandy (optional)

8 slices of baguette

1 clove of garlic, halved

100g Gruyère, grated

Method

Melt the butter in a large, heavy-bottomed pan over a low heat. Add the onions, season and cook, stirring regularly, until caramelised and deep brown. (Once they’ve softened, you can turn up the heat a little, but keep an eye on them.) This will probably take about 90 minutes.

Stir in the flour and thyme and cook for a couple of minutes, stirring the flour in, then add the vinegar and a third of the cider, stirring and scraping all the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Whisk in the rest of the cider and the stock, and bring to the boil. Add the bay leaf. Simmer for about an hour. Meanwhile, heat the grill and rub the baguette slices with the cut side of the garlic clove. Brush with melted butter, and toast on both sides.

Add the brandy to the soup and check the seasoning.

To serve, ladle into ovenproof dishes and top with 2 croutons and a mound of cheese. Grill until golden, then serve immediately.

Cock-a-Leekie is a traditional Scottish chicken and leek soup that is very tasty. You are poaching a chicken in chicken stock and then just cooking some vegetables. Simple and perfect.

This is based on a Mary Berry recipe. I’m not sure if the prunes are traditional but they do add a background sweetness and work well.

With the meat of the whole chicken in the soup, along with the vegetables, it can get pretty “thick”, or crowded. Adding a little vegetable stock (the wonderful Marigold Boullion) can thin it to a nicer consistency without losing the great chicken flavour.

Ingredients

1 small chicken

2 litres chicken stock (or use a vegetable stock), add more later if needed

3 bay leaves

4 medium leeks, or just 3 if they are huge, cleaned of grit and halved lengthways, and then sliced

2 carrots, peeled, halved lengthways, sliced

2 sticks celery, halved lengthways, sliced

12 ready-to-eat dried prunes, cut into halves

salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Sit the chicken in a large saucepan so it fits snugly and add the stock; you need enough to cover the chicken.

Add the bay and season with salt and pepper. Bring to the boil on a high heat. Cover and simmer for 1–1¼ hours. Take the chicken out to cool and cover with foil.

Add the leeks, carrots, celery and prunes to the cooking liquid. Add any extra stock if it’s needed.

Bring to a simmer, then cover and cook for 20 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.

Pull the meat from the chicken carcass into and cut into bite-sized pieces, discarding any skin and bone. Remove the bay leaves from the pan, add a little salt and pepper if needed, return the chicken to the pan and stir. Heat until piping hot.

The cock-a-Leekie soup really needs no garnish or fanciness. It’s just a big bowl of lovely chicken soup.

Variant

A good variant to make the dish into more of a carby meal is to soften off some thin egg noodles as the pack instructions say, and then add the drained noodles to the soup just before serving.

Freekeh is a whole or cracked dried green wheat. It is typically Palestinian/Eastern Med. It makes a light alternative to Risotto and works well as a side to some vegetable dishes or some grilled meats. I find it’s “lighter” than risotto and makes a good summer alternative.

Ingredients

2 medium onions, thinly sliced

25g butter

1 tbsp olive oil, plus extra to finish

150g freekeh (or bulgar wheat)

¼ tsp ground cinnamon

¼ tsp ground allspice

270ml good-quality vegetable stock

10g parsley, finely chopped, plus extra to garnish

10g mint, finely chopped

10g coriander, finely chopped

2 tbsp pine nuts, toasted

Salt and pepper

Side

100g Greek yoghurt

1½ tsp lemon juice

½ garlic clove, crushed

salt

Method

Soak the Freekeh in cold water for 5 minutes.

Soften the onions in a large pot with the oil and butter for about 15 minutes until they are soft and golden.

Add the drained freekeh, spices, salt, pepper and stock to the pot and bring to a simmer.

Simmer for about 15 minutes and then set it aside covered for about 5 minutes

Uncover for another 5 minutes to allow it to cool a bit.

Mix the yoghurt, lemon, garlic and salt as a side dressing

Stir in the herbs to the pilaf

Serve with the pine nuts sprinkled over and a drizzle of olive oil, with the yoghurt dressing on the side.

Ingredients

Method

Prepare a working bowl and juice half the lemon into the bowl

Cut the celeriac into matchstick-thin pieces. I use a mandolin for this. Immediately put the cut pieces into the lemon juice to prevent them browning, and the acid in the lemon will start “cooking” the celeriac.

Simply mix the remaining ingredients (mayonnaise etc) into another serving bowl to create a thinking liquid a bit like unwhipped double cream.

Now gently fold the celeriac with some seasoning into the creamy liquid.

Leave it for 30 minutes to become ready.

Serve the celeriac remoulade as an accompaniment to cold cooked ham or other cold meats.